Healing
by walkthatlonesomevalley
Summary: After James has passed away, Betty finally gets some alone time with Gladys. *older story, written a while ago* McWitham all the way


*disclaimer: I know that they planted James's tree in the victory garden but I couldn't help but put it on the Witham estate where Gladys could go to it often and alone... I know... it makes no sense but I love it!*

**HEALING**

The sun swooping down the hillside was just beautiful. Far off in the distance Betty's destination was calling out to her. Within sight, there was new life in a space that was once empty. A beautiful tree, barely old enough to stand on it's own, was now firmly planted in a field of green grass. It was just old enough to grow it's trunk to the height of a person and it provided a spot of shade on the ground.

The space beneath the shade of the fledgling tree was covered with a blanket and upon that blanket, Gladys Witham lay waiting on her stomach. Turning the pages of a book, she fiddled with the thick corners, folding them this way and then that, nervous for no obvious reason.

Betty paused to take in the sight of her. The girl of the hour seemed to be getting some life back into her. She seemed nervous to Betty but her spirits were in high form. Betty wondered if her visit would upset her and she hoped beyond hope that the hard times would soon fade until they were nothing but a memory.

Something about the way Gladys's hair fell about her shoulders rivived Betty from her solemn state. She had been previously thinking a bit too much about her pickle of a situation. If she didn't know any better, Betty thought that she may be falling in love again. She couldn't believe how quickly it had happened but every time she looked at Kate she still felt that little something, that little jolt of electricity that she could neither suppress nor quell. It was a sad sort of happiness that she was experiencing now. She couldn't stop her love for Kate and she couldn't force her love for Teresa. She felt helpless between these two opposing directions. The woman soldier was becoming more and more attached to her and she was not opposed to this in the slightest. On the contrary, she more than hoped that their relationship would grow until it could grow no further for it did provide her nothing but happiness and in such a trying time, that was more than required.

A feeling of happiness took hold of Betty, everything seemed to be going right for once. She had new love and therefore new light. Gladys was cheering up, she actually agreed to meet her, she had been turning everyone away. Not only that, Kate seemed to be dealing well with the new changes. There hadn't been any outbursts and Betty hadn't noticed her drinking or wallowing like she had done just months before. Kate had Ivan now, at least for a while, and Betty knew that Ivan would be good to her. Although, Betty did secretly despise their new little petnames. Everytime she heard Ivan call her "Katie" she wanted to take him by the throat and do something god-awful. She hated herself for still caring that much, for still wanting to have some semblance of control in the relationship that was always just out of her reach. A strange feeling took hold of her these days, one she couldn't completely explain but she knew it to be healthy, it was the feeling that she truly wanted Kate to be happy, even if that meant that she'd be without her. It seemed that it had been so long since Kate had been happy. Betty started to wonder if Kate was ever really happy before. Things would be so much easier for them both if they could just love other people and not let go of the family they have built together, the family that makes them both feel loved and safe. Betty wanted Kate to have exactly what she wanted, she wanted not to interfere.

Her shoes sinking into the soil, Betty continued to walk until she reached the flat land and neared the pretty little tree. The sun felt so nice on her shoulders, she was wearing a sleevless button-up blouse with a pair of new trousers and she was glad for the heat after such a cold winter. Lately it seemed the sun was shining more than ever, and Betty, for one, could not get enough of it.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Gladys shouted from her perch at the top of the hill. She laid her book down beside her on the blanket and sat up to hold her knees, resting her chin right on top. Her friend had finally come for her. A peaceful happiness shined within her from the inside out, until Betty could see her smile.

The day had gone quickly for Gladys. Although it may not appear that way to Betty, Gladys's day provided little leisure up until this very moment. All her fidgetting was valid, her nerves had not settled from the events of the day or the week or the month. Ever since the funeral, she had been busy in her own head, trying to keep her doubts at bay. But seeing Betty now, it calmed her greatly.

"And miss a picnic with my, princess? Wouldn't bet on it!" Betty winked. As Betty approached Gladys took her in. She loved that the blonde had gone back to wearing pants. She was beautiful either way but this just fit her. She wore the clothes that matched her activity, she was feminine and beautiful and ready to take on the world. Gladys didn't want to admit it but her current obsession with trousers was more Betty's doing than Katherine Hepburn and the fashion of the days.

"Kate told me why you didn't make the tea-party the other day." Betty knew she'd have to deal with this sooner or later. It seemed like a good idea at the time, to greet Teresa with open arms, but now she was regretting it just a tad. Gladys was her greatest friend, her rock, and she had to be there for her, it was just wrong of her not to be but Gladys herself hadn't been the best at showing up in times of need so Betty gave herself this one pass and promised never to do it again. How was she to know that Teresa would be staying for so long? As far as she knew, her new lover could've been sent out the very next day leaving her filled with regret and longing, missed opportunities were the worst in her mind.

"Tea-party? Sounded like an intervention to me." Betty said sitting down. She pulled a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it, leaning back on her hands until she was almost laying down.

"Didn't know you were the kind of friend to stand me up for a date.. That was always Kate's department."

"Oh and if James was here right now you wouldn't leave me where I sit?" They both got quiet. "I shouldn't... I shouldn't of brought him up." Betty fretted, she wanted to kick herself in the mouth.

"It's alright Betts. James Dunn is dead and I need to get used to it. There will be no more love-sick dancing in my future. If only I could stay away from men." Gladys pondered. The idea should be simple, but to Gladys it was nearly impossible. Men were all over, new ones and old, handsome and not, brave and cowardly. They all seemed to want and need something from her and she always loved that in other people.

"Thinking of taking up women, are you? Looks like my lucky day!" Betty joked, smiling at her sideways with a look that could only portray pure unadulterated amusement.

"I don't have much of a choice." Gladys leaned over Betty and stole the cigarette from her hand. "Speaking of women..." Gladys blushed. "Tell me everything." Betty's sly smile shrunk away until it was meek and her cheeks had flushed red as the tips of a fire in the moonlight.

"What's there to tell?" She paused, wiping the ash from her pants, portraying an aire of disinterest.

"Come on Betts! Give me something! You've got to take me out of this stupor, give me the goods. If I don't live through you, there may be no more happiness in the Witham household." Gladys shot an aggrivated look backwards at the house beyond the hill. She was speaking, of course, of her parents and their own grieving process, they had been grieving for years with only near glimpses of happiness amongst the rain and shadows. Betty noticed this look on Gladys, the look of not wanting to be this sad. A pang hit her in the side and she held at herself, deciding to relent.

"Well, she's great." Betty said, her blush intensifying despite the melancholy that was sweeping over her from being here in this place where so much sadness did dwell.

"Betty Mcrae! You lady killer!" Gladys pushed Betty's shoulders with both her arms until she had succeeded in pinning her friend to the ground, trapping her beneath her with the weight of her whole body. "I thought I could seduce you, once." She admitted, cheekily, her face just inches from Betty's.

"And?" Betty gulped, the red still in her cheek. Gladys always knew how to get a rise out of her. The funnest part of their friendship was trying not to react to one another's gentle pinches and pokes..

"And..." Gladys said, relaxing into Betty, letting her body rest atop her friend's. "I guess you weren't ready." She smiled, placing her hands to Betty's sides and pushing herself up off the ground. Once she made to stand, she offered a hand to Betty and pulled her up to stand. "Come on Betts, father got me a present."

Once Betty was standing, Gladys refused to let go of Betty's hand, and Betty was in no way going to try to let go. They left the blanket and the book and the ashes from their cigarette beneath James's tree. Glady's warm hand felt nice in Betty's, like it was always meant to be there. They loved their friendship, loved it more than almost anything! In moments like these when they served as pillars for the other's world, they felt that perhaps their relationship was the actual romance of their lives, though they rarely spoke of it, they both knew this in their hearts. they were never really having trouble between them, often they would grow sad from absence or guilt from not being able to fix things, but when they were together like this, life just made sense.

They walked for a long time, making jokes about how rich the Witham's really were, and how many slaves they must have and how different Betty's peasant life is in comparison. Boy did they ever laugh! They laughed like they hadn't laughed together in so very long. They laughed until they both had happy tears in their eyes and happy hearts in their chests, hearts that made their breaths rise high in their chests. There was an excitement attached to the admiration they felt for one another. Soon they came to the long drive that lead to the Witham mansion, and Betty noticed something new right away.

"He didn't?!" She exclaimed, running towards the familiar object that shun sleekly off in the distance.

"It wasn't easy!" She admitted, running after her friend, laughter drifting off of her like the wind in an effortless and natural flow, more appeasing than many sounds to Betty's ears. Betty's eyes were wide in amazement.

"It must've cost a fortune!" Betty exclaimed.

"Only the best for Rollie's baby girl!" Gladys mimicked her father's tone. "I guess he heard me yell at that soldier, the day he came to visit me." Gladys crossed her arms, remembering things she wish she hadn't of done.

"I thought you only kissed, soldiers. You certainly have changed." Betty joked.

"Little devil." Glady smiled. "Get in."

"Really?"

"It's mine. We can go anywhere!" She jumped in the drivers seat, Betty wiggling in right next to her. She went to fix the mirror, "Now I've got the tree, AND the car and I couldn't be more satisfied." She smiled, placing a hand on the shift stick, Betty placed her hand over Glady's and they both smiled these huge smiles, smiles that they had been waiting to smile together for weeks. Today they would both feel like kids again.

"The beach?"

"The beach." Gladys nodded, happy tears flooding her eyes. The two drove on through the town, passing girls they knew and soldiers who were all dressed the same. They were quiet but happy. Betty moved a lot, she stuck her head out of the side of the car, yelled at the people on the road, waved to the factory girls she noticed, and hooted at the couples kissing on College and Young outside the diner. At one point Gladys had to pull Betty back down into her seat, she was actually standing and leaning out the door, cursing up a storm at some fella who'd whistled after her obscenely.

"What am I going to do with you, Betts?!" Gladys laughed.

"Marry me?!" Betty smiled, lighting another cigarette.

"Yeah, maybe I should! That would teach you!" Gladys laughed.

They drove and drove, straight through town. They saw Kate and Ivan and Carol with her mother, and Marco and Lorna talking stiffly on a street corner. They would wave and shout but never slow. Today was their day and no one else was going to ruin it.

The wind felt nice and the sun beat down on them, giving them warm shoulders. Halfway to the beach, Betty lay her head and hand in Glady's lap, and Gladys slowed the car to a gentle roll, to prolong the adventure and bask in the glory of this day.

"I thought I might die, Betts."

"I know... I know you did..." Betty said, brushing her hand on Glady's leg. They were so happy before that the sadness came quick. For the first time ever Betty wished that perhaps the war hadn't happened.

"Wh-..." Gladys breathed in heavily. "When I was reading that letter, I couldn't even hear myself, Betts. It was like... Like I already knew." Gladys took a swift left turn and pulled the car up parallel to the sand. Betty didn't want to move.

"Sometimes I wish the war didn't happen." Betty breathed, quietly. The sounds of the waves made her feel comfortable in speaking. The thoughts she would usually keep in came rushing out like water into a vast sea. These emotions were felt by many, why should anyone keep them in?

"Me too..." Gladys said, crying into her hand. Betty turned over until she was on her back. She wanted to look up Gladys and see her, she felt that no one saw her.

"Sometimes I can feel you..." Betty said randomly, throwing Gladys for a loop.

"I always see you," Gladys smiled down at her friend, burying her in her hair. She leaned straight down awkwardly, holding Betty's face in her hands and planting a kiss on Betty's lips. When she pulled away, Betty breathed her in and smiled.

"I like our drives..."

"Me too Betts." Gladys said, truthfully. Gladys looked out on the water and braced her face with her hand, holding her head up by using the door frame. Her other hand rest on Betty's side, she was holding her there, clutching at her side in a pensive need for comfort.

"I'll always be here for you, Gladys." Betty said and somehow it meant the world to her that Betty didn't say Princess just then.

"I know." Gladys smile, looking down at Betty again. She watched Betty's face until the blonde closed her eyes. This place was theirs. It was so peaceful and no one could get to them there. They spent several hours just sitting. Betty laid in Glady's lap with her eyes closed, knowing that Gladys was grieving looking out at the water. She didn't care if Teresa or Kate or anyone was looking for her. It was Glady's turn to have her and she loved this time the most.

After a long while the sun began to escape the sky, fleeting down until it was touching the sea at the very edges of the Earth. Gladys clutched at Betty's side, jolting her from her peaceful resting spot.

"Come on Betts, it's time." Gladys said, smiling. She opened the door and grabbed Betty's hand, leading her out of the car towards the sand. Betty stopped just outside the car.

"Wait!" She laughed, pulling at her shoes and chucking them into the car one at a time. Gladys bent to take her own shoes off and threw them in the car as well, chasing off after Betty who had run as soon as Glady's was distracted.

"Not fair! You cheated!" Gladys yelled after her, running off towards the water and the blonde, her feet sinking swiftly onto the cold thick sand.

"Come on Princess, you're losing!" Betty turned to yell at her, thinking Gladys was far behind. Gladys tackled her with her whole body, throwing the girl down into the sand and laughing ontop of her.

"You cheat!" She yelled, throwing sand in Betty's shirt.

"Ahh! Stop! Okay! Okay!" Betty laughed, until sand blew into her face and she pushed Gladys off to spit it out of her mouth. Gladys gave her no time, jumping up and running full speed at the water. Betty scrambled off after her.

"Now, who's the cheat!" She yelled, spitting again until the sand was gone. The smiles on their faces were the smiles that children wear most of the time. The smiles of humans with no cares in the world.

Gladys charged at the water until her legs were buried up to her knees, her pantbottoms were pulling away from her with the force of the current. She hesitated a moment, thinking how cold! But Betty was quick behind her and soon she was pushed off her feet with no choice but to fall and bury herself within the water. All it took was one push and they both were flown from their feet until their whole bodies were sunk deep enough to wet them head to toe. When they came up they both screamed from the cold, the surprise, and the joy of it all. No matter how many times you jump into freezing water, it always feels new and unexpected, it never gets old.

The water was so cold but this is how they always took their minds off of things. They splashed each other ferociously in the excitement of the cold, neither one of them winning or losing. Then Gladys pulled Betty into her arms from behind and held her there, wrapping her legs around her and trapping her within her arms and legs. They sat rocking in the freezing shallow water. The small waves were hitting them gently but Gladys held Betty tight in her embrace, wanting to hug and thank her for days and moments like this one. These were the only times that her mind could be clear.

"I'd die without you." Gladys whispered into Betty's ear, her arms were so tight around Betty's shoulders she could almost feel herself about to break her. "I mean it!"

"I'm not leaving." Betty said stubbornly, knowing for sure that Gladys wasn't even lying.

"I would die..." Gladys whispered again, laying her head on Betty's shoulder, not caring about the cold or the wet or the rest of the world. Betty pulled her hand up to Glady's hair and held her head there on her shoulder, wanting to make all that pain go away. She kissed the side of Glady's head, her eyes squinting at the salt and the tears, she inhaled deeply feeling all things at once.

"Come on princess. We'll catch our death." Betty joked, kissing her head again. She stood up awkwardly, feeling her clothes as they tried hard to slip off of her, the water pulling at them from below. Gladys laughed at the sight of her friend who had accidentally worn a shirt that was surely now transparent.

"Betts! You're a harlot!" She laughed, causing Betty to hold herself with embarrassment. She covered the nipples that were clear as day through her clothes and colder than all hell.

"Come on!" Betts yelled, motioning for Galdys to get up with one hand. Gladys laughed, taking Betty's hand and they slowly walked out of the water, the wind licking them until the cold was all they could feel. The sand stuck to them but Gladys was smiling. Betty looked back at her and smiled as well. She wanted for Gladys to always be happy like this. She didn't care that she was freezing. She'd probably be sick by the morning.

They climbed into the bed of the car, using towels that Gladys had brought, knowing full well that this was going to happen. Gladys took her clothes off and threw on one of James's old sweaters, it was so big that she didn't even need pants, so she decided not to put pants on just yet, the sweater was like a dress.

"So nice of you to think for yourself!" Betty joked, looking over at her friend who was pinning her hair up above her head, looking more beautiful than ever, after rolling around in the dirt and salt water like an animal only seconds before. Betts was shivering now, still clutching at her arms. She felt a fool to have worn the shirt she did. It was new and she had no idea.

"Oh! Hang on!" Gladys said, pulling her arms around the back of her seat until she pulled out another sweater, this one was even bigger than the last. Betty smiled, at the sight of it. She really didn't expect Gladys to have a whole wardrobe in this car. She had already settled in again, the car her one true possession, the only possession she cared about, it made her feel free. "This one's my father's" she laughed, putting it between herself and Betty and helping Betty to unbutton her shirt and peel the wet bra from off her body. Betty noticed that Gladys was looking down.

"Hey now!" Betty exclaimed, a warning escaping her as she noticed that her own nipples were still fully aroused.

"We're all friends here." Gladys smiled, looking away slightly embarrassed. Betty watched her, an interested and flattered smile coming over her. She raised her arms up and Gladys pulled the large sweater over her until she was buried in it and able to wiggle out of her pants and underclothes. "Thanks for coming." Gladys said solemnly. Betty looked over at her and smiled, she stole a pin from the glove compartment and mocked Glady's style, putting her hair up just the same. When she looked over at her friend she noticed the sad smile she was wearing, she looked sad that the day was coming to an end.

Betty snuck up to Gladys and hugged her from the side, her hair in Glady's face. Gladys kissed her forehead with her hands firmly on the steering wheel. This day had to end just like all the rest.

"I love you Gladys." Betty said, hugging her friend.

"I love you too, silly girl." Gladys laughed, kissing Betty's forehead again, this time longer, breathing into it with a little bit of frustration. "Come on now, we can't stay out all night, my parents already think I'm crazy, wouldn't want them out on suicide watch. I imagine Rollie Witham would call the brigade!" She joked sorrowfully.

"Okay." Betty said woefully, wishing the day didn't have to end. She felt so comfortable here, so completely at peace. Gladys started up the car but Betty wouldn't let go of her. She wanted to hold her all night and she didn't know why. "It was the perfect day," Betty said, adjusting the way she was holding her so that driving was more feasible for the brunette.

"The perfect day." Gladys mimicked hopefully. "I hope we can have more perfect days." She said, remembering how often her days were imperfect.

"We will." Betty said reassuringly, laying down again like before so she could watch her friend drive and be invisible to the world, safe within this rocking boat. She rubbed Glady's arm with her hand and moved her hand up to Glady's face, tracing her jaw and her lips and the smile that rose there with her touch. Gladys held Betty's hand to her cheek and closed her eyes a little too long, the car rolling on quietly, the only car on the road. She kissed Betty's hand and wished she'd never have to wake up from this day. It was too perfect and perfect never lasted long.

She pulled the car over to the side and Betty sat up suddenly to see where they had stopped. They were parked on a cliff that looked out onto the ocean.

"Stay here with me?" Gladys begged, tears filling her eyes.

"You got it." Betty promised, holding Glady's hand and moving her arms as Gladys tucked her body onto her lap until she was laying on her side with Betty holding her there tightly.

"I don't want to be alone." Gladys wept.

"I'm here." Betty said, brushing Glady's face with her hand, wiping away the tears as they fell. Gladys cried and Betty did too and neither of them wanted to move or leave or be anywhere else ever again. They fell asleep together sometime before dawn. They would be late for work but neither of them cared.

When they arrived at VicMu Kate gave them a worried look and noticed the sadness that passed between them. She wondered if something else had happened but hugged them nonetheless. Why was it that they were always in mourning, she wondered, the sadness attacking her too.


End file.
